Debbie received her bachelor's degrees in chemistry and biology from the University of Minnesota, Morris, in 2011. She went on to attend the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, as a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry working in the lab of Dr. Marc Hillmyer. As a graduate student, Debbie worked on the synthesis of renewable block polymer elastomers and chemically recyclable polyurethane foams.
Debbie's spirit bird is the Pterodactyl (Pterodactylus antiquus).